Getting Randomized Field Trials Done: The USA, U.K., and Australian Experience

Lawrence W. Sherman, University of Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT

The support for randomized controlled experiments in criminology has waxed and waned over the past 30 years. The reasons in the US appear to be linked to social networks attached to key policymakers, such as the IJ Directors. The reasons in the UK, for example, appear to be linked more directly to government policy, and the influence of the Treasury (their OMB) on the way the government spends its money. As one who has sought funding for experimental criminology on three continents, the author offers several hypotheses to explain recent history and predict the near-run future of funding for RCTS in crime prevention.